The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
With so many games being released, it's inevitable that a fair few will make a significant impact on the gaming world, albeit amongst 75% of complete trash...
Over the past few years we've seen some superb console releases, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2 and of course the most recent, the Microsoft X Box, soon we'll have the Nintendo Game Cube, and within 3 years there'll probably be something else too. I say this because these new age, next generation consoles would be useless if they didn't house the best games - games that you would put in your top ten list even without thinking. PlayStation? MegaDrive? Nintendo Entertainment System? All 'dead' or 'dying' formats, but still, these consoles were home to some incredible titles, so even when the platform becomes forgotten, the games will still be close to mind (probably because of a tenth sequel on a latest console...)
So, my top ten, that's what this, is all about. Well, a great game has to make you want to play it again, and again. Unless of course the game manages to keep you transfixed for the entire duration until you complete it, 10 hour night gaming sessions do in fact happen... I don't think I'd be able to put them in order, but here goes. My top ten, in no particular order: -
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (PS2 version). The very first Tony Hawk's game was released on the original PlayStation and ever since, you could always be safe in the knowledge that Activision and Neversoft would make their classic skateboard 'em up on a Sony console - the controller is perfectly designed to withstand the player's many combo moves and frantic button bashing and rotating - THPS3 has fantastic visuals, a refreshing frame rate (ahem) and some very well designed levels, especially the final cruise ship area - ideal for huge grinding combo's! If the game needed a saving grace it would be the addictiveness level - literally lose hours upon hours in front of your television playing through the tasks in each level, or competing in a two player battle, but Tony Hawk's 3 doesn't need one, it's superb in every area - a great soundtrack, superb controls, excellent graphics and speed, top longevity and of course, being the most addictive game of all time.
Next, Virtua Fighter 2 – on the Sega Saturn and in the arcade, many years ago – originally unveiled to the world in 1994, it had a troubled time selling itself, only because of the not so popular Sega Saturn, if VF2 had of been on the PlayStation, well, things would be different. Still, that doesn’t detract from the game’s genius. Vastly superior visuals to the first Virtua Fighter, Yu Suzuki’s 2nd instant classic had awesome graphics, great moves and enough characters to make it last. It had brilliant sound, some really authentic fighting arenas and that certain Sega charm that made it all gel together. Looking back on it now, it does look dated, but then 8 year old children don’t still fit in prams. If you missed out on this epic, then all I can suggest is that you get yourself a PlayStation 2, order Virtua Fighter 4 and await its release and try to contain your excitement. The latest VF in the series will finally have the audience it deserves – watch out for it very closely.
Another fighting game now and its ‘Dead or Alive 3’ on the newly released X Box: - you may be thinking “what happened to the last 2 D o A’s?” although you’re probably not, I’ll tell you anyway, the first Tecmo title was released both on the Sega Saturn and PlayStation, and largely went unnoticed, whereas Dead or Alive 2 made a reputable enough impact when released on the Dreamcast a couple of years back. It was praised as being one of the finest looking and most fluid playing beat ‘em up for a very long time, and indeed it was a fantastic game, although I did, like many found it a little simplistic, with the one player mission being insanely easy to complete at the first attempt. However, Dead or Alive 3 is something of beauty, just to look at you know that one of the best looking, if not, the best looking game available is staring you right in the face – it’s very much like the 2nd version, but it plays at about double the speed, with 5 times the amount of possible moves and some very intriguing new characters, arenas and game modes. Definitely the best looking X Box game out right now, grab a mate, or 3, make use of your X Box’s 4 controller ports, and play to your heart’s content. DoA3, in a word – Stunning.
Gran Turismo 3, a racing game of such perfection, it needs no introduction. If you’ve not yet played the PS2’s finest, and ever so probably the best racing game of all time, then you seriously need to find yourself in the vicinity of a PlayStation 2. With the previous two Polyphony Digital GT games, the PlayStation world did stand still and look upon 2 classics in the making, and GT3 is just another modern day wonder. With notably sublime lighting effects, frame rate and of course that oh so realistic engine roar, nothing really comes close to this one. There’re plenty of awesome cars, very well designed tracks that really do test your skills, and a one player GT mode that’ll last you for a very long time indeed. If you can’t afford to tune up a Dodge Viper or TVR Tuscan, then don’t worry, not many of us can, the next best thing? Gran Turismo 3, and what’s more, it’s only £19.99 in the Platinum range.
Remember the Dreamcast? You should do, it was only released in 1999 in Europe, and sadly didn’t get the sales figures it needed or deserved, because there were some fine games available for it, and if there’s one Dreamcast game that stands out above all else is another Yu Suzuki masterpiece, Shenmue. Although Sega may have tried to convince that the game breaks into its very own genre, it’s basically ‘just’ a role playing game, but it’s something quite unique, and quite brilliant in my eyes. Take on the role of Ryo, a young adult, highly skilled in the martial arts and who’s seeking revenge over his father’s death, you become Ryo and have to live out his life and steer him to the right path of tracking down those who murdered his Dad. Despite some mediocre voice acting at times, there is no questioning the scale of this epic video game; the visuals are incredible, the music highly appropriate and the theme - simple but effectively captivating. Storyline is unique, the gameplay is flawless – prepare for a lot of hand to hand first combat – 70 man brawl near the end…Classic.
Who can deny that oldies are great, grandparents – they’re great, play cards with you, talk about the war, and what have you, well, in the computer gaming scene, there are some pretty wrinkly titles out there, one all time great being Tetris. What a game that really was, and of course, still is. The simple things in life are normally the best, and what’s simpler than the genius behind Tetris – 7 different shapes of four blocks each, falling down one by one, instantly yours to control, rotate them, move them horizontally, all the time trying to build up hole free lines at the bottom of the ‘grid’ in order to collect points. It’s simple, it doesn’t need 128bit graphics or Dolby 5.1 digital surround sound and yet it manages to entertain people of all ages for a good half an hour at a time. Classic, simple, genius, great game – universal appeal, although the kids nowadays might prefer the polygon record breaking platform games, Tetris rules though.
Going retro once again now, with Asteroids taking one of the places in my list – I doubt I’d get the same satisfaction playing it today as I did then, but still, this is an undisputed video game, and one that is responsible for many half decent clones. The idea simple was simple, you’re a space rocket and you have to shoot large asteroids to make them explode into smaller asteroids, shoot them again, they’ll be even smaller until finally there’s none left and you’ve got yourself an admirable score. The game didn’t even have colour, yet you could play it for hours, maybe because there was nothing else quite like it, maybe because there was nothing else to do, but either way, the game was brilliant. Especially the way the rocket was controlled – hold the arrows down for longer and it’d increase in speed, a simple touch of left right up or down would merely step it slightly in that direction. Of course you had to be careful not to collide into the giant rocks, which were simply a white outline, with a shape that just about resembled the asteroid; otherwise you’d pick up damage and possibly lose a life. Oh the memories…
Leaping forward to another PlayStation 2 game, and yet another ‘3’ game, it’s Grand Theft Auto 3 – a game so utterly stylish, it’s easy to understand why it’s the best selling PS2 game so far. Violence is acceptable in virtual form I suppose, because this game is one very violent title, but fair enough – gangsters, guns, mobs and missions galore, if you want to experience something close to working for the Mafia, then buy this game! You’re an escapee, and you need some money, so your mate helps you find some work, and from there on things get dirty, and you get rich. Pull off the missions well and you’ll be rewarded, be it as a hit man, a chauffeur or a sniper, stay alive and reap the profits. The graphics are fantastic, in contrast to the previous two GTA games, this one’s in full 3D, although if you so wish, you can change to that famous 2D aerial view. Some amazing lighting effects can be found here, a host of weapons, including your own fists – steal cars as you please, run over pedestrians if you want, but don’t forget about the fuzz…A superb game with loads of missions, lots of extras and a unique attitude found only in this game (great fun to play too)!
Sonic, Sega’s celebrity mascot and now he’s on Game Cube, Game Boy Advance as well as Sega’s old consoles, but the game that stands out for me is the original Sonic the Hedgehog on the Master System, a 2D gaming masterpiece, something that took on Nintendo’s Mario and held it’s own against it. Ok, so there’s one major gripe with the first incarnation of Sonic, something that plagued all Master System and NES games, you can’t save your game and pick up from where you left off. However, this resulted in multi-hour gaming sessions, often with a few mates, taking it in turn for the levels as you progressed to more visually interesting, and ultimately harder stages. Sonic has a certain charm, A and B did exactly the same (jump (or spin when holding down)) and then the ‘D-pad’ was of course for direction. It’s only a one player game, yet it’s still a superb game for more than one. Sonic Team never tried to make it look better than the master system could take, and thus it offers simple 2D but very vibrant and glitch free visuals – simple but catchy music, famous sound effects, and a great enemy for Sonic to defeat. A class act all round.
If you’ve got Sonic, you have to include Mario really. A plump little Italian plumber, an ideal candidate for a video game hero – and of course the trusty mascot of Nintendo, Mario and his brother Luigi have always starred on Nintendo’s consoles, my favourite of them all has to be Super Mario Bros. 3 on the NES, more colourful than the previous 2, and there was a better storyline, possibly. Mario could do much the same as Sonic, without quite as much speed, but he could jump on his opponents, and collect coins, where Sonic collected rings. At the end of each relatively short level you’d be able to get a card, the famous “You got a card!” message appearing each time, with the aim of collecting 3 of the same in order to trade them for extra lives to help you keep going, oh the simple things were the best. Not at all fast paced, but a really fun game to play, you soon forgot how uncomfortable those teeny control pads were. Better than Sonic? Well, could Sonic really take on King Koopa and win?
That’s ten. All brilliant games in their own right, and all I have really enjoyed playing. Hope it wasn’t too great a chore for you to read through, if you made it then, thanks for reading – that’s all from me.
VOODOO MAN
Over the past few years we've seen some superb console releases, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2 and of course the most recent, the Microsoft X Box, soon we'll have the Nintendo Game Cube, and within 3 years there'll probably be something else too. I say this because these new age, next generation consoles would be useless if they didn't house the best games - games that you would put in your top ten list even without thinking. PlayStation? MegaDrive? Nintendo Entertainment System? All 'dead' or 'dying' formats, but still, these consoles were home to some incredible titles, so even when the platform becomes forgotten, the games will still be close to mind (probably because of a tenth sequel on a latest console...)
So, my top ten, that's what this, is all about. Well, a great game has to make you want to play it again, and again. Unless of course the game manages to keep you transfixed for the entire duration until you complete it, 10 hour night gaming sessions do in fact happen... I don't think I'd be able to put them in order, but here goes. My top ten, in no particular order: -
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (PS2 version). The very first Tony Hawk's game was released on the original PlayStation and ever since, you could always be safe in the knowledge that Activision and Neversoft would make their classic skateboard 'em up on a Sony console - the controller is perfectly designed to withstand the player's many combo moves and frantic button bashing and rotating - THPS3 has fantastic visuals, a refreshing frame rate (ahem) and some very well designed levels, especially the final cruise ship area - ideal for huge grinding combo's! If the game needed a saving grace it would be the addictiveness level - literally lose hours upon hours in front of your television playing through the tasks in each level, or competing in a two player battle, but Tony Hawk's 3 doesn't need one, it's superb in every area - a great soundtrack, superb controls, excellent graphics and speed, top longevity and of course, being the most addictive game of all time.
Next, Virtua Fighter 2 – on the Sega Saturn and in the arcade, many years ago – originally unveiled to the world in 1994, it had a troubled time selling itself, only because of the not so popular Sega Saturn, if VF2 had of been on the PlayStation, well, things would be different. Still, that doesn’t detract from the game’s genius. Vastly superior visuals to the first Virtua Fighter, Yu Suzuki’s 2nd instant classic had awesome graphics, great moves and enough characters to make it last. It had brilliant sound, some really authentic fighting arenas and that certain Sega charm that made it all gel together. Looking back on it now, it does look dated, but then 8 year old children don’t still fit in prams. If you missed out on this epic, then all I can suggest is that you get yourself a PlayStation 2, order Virtua Fighter 4 and await its release and try to contain your excitement. The latest VF in the series will finally have the audience it deserves – watch out for it very closely.
Another fighting game now and its ‘Dead or Alive 3’ on the newly released X Box: - you may be thinking “what happened to the last 2 D o A’s?” although you’re probably not, I’ll tell you anyway, the first Tecmo title was released both on the Sega Saturn and PlayStation, and largely went unnoticed, whereas Dead or Alive 2 made a reputable enough impact when released on the Dreamcast a couple of years back. It was praised as being one of the finest looking and most fluid playing beat ‘em up for a very long time, and indeed it was a fantastic game, although I did, like many found it a little simplistic, with the one player mission being insanely easy to complete at the first attempt. However, Dead or Alive 3 is something of beauty, just to look at you know that one of the best looking, if not, the best looking game available is staring you right in the face – it’s very much like the 2nd version, but it plays at about double the speed, with 5 times the amount of possible moves and some very intriguing new characters, arenas and game modes. Definitely the best looking X Box game out right now, grab a mate, or 3, make use of your X Box’s 4 controller ports, and play to your heart’s content. DoA3, in a word – Stunning.
Gran Turismo 3, a racing game of such perfection, it needs no introduction. If you’ve not yet played the PS2’s finest, and ever so probably the best racing game of all time, then you seriously need to find yourself in the vicinity of a PlayStation 2. With the previous two Polyphony Digital GT games, the PlayStation world did stand still and look upon 2 classics in the making, and GT3 is just another modern day wonder. With notably sublime lighting effects, frame rate and of course that oh so realistic engine roar, nothing really comes close to this one. There’re plenty of awesome cars, very well designed tracks that really do test your skills, and a one player GT mode that’ll last you for a very long time indeed. If you can’t afford to tune up a Dodge Viper or TVR Tuscan, then don’t worry, not many of us can, the next best thing? Gran Turismo 3, and what’s more, it’s only £19.99 in the Platinum range.
Remember the Dreamcast? You should do, it was only released in 1999 in Europe, and sadly didn’t get the sales figures it needed or deserved, because there were some fine games available for it, and if there’s one Dreamcast game that stands out above all else is another Yu Suzuki masterpiece, Shenmue. Although Sega may have tried to convince that the game breaks into its very own genre, it’s basically ‘just’ a role playing game, but it’s something quite unique, and quite brilliant in my eyes. Take on the role of Ryo, a young adult, highly skilled in the martial arts and who’s seeking revenge over his father’s death, you become Ryo and have to live out his life and steer him to the right path of tracking down those who murdered his Dad. Despite some mediocre voice acting at times, there is no questioning the scale of this epic video game; the visuals are incredible, the music highly appropriate and the theme - simple but effectively captivating. Storyline is unique, the gameplay is flawless – prepare for a lot of hand to hand first combat – 70 man brawl near the end…Classic.
Who can deny that oldies are great, grandparents – they’re great, play cards with you, talk about the war, and what have you, well, in the computer gaming scene, there are some pretty wrinkly titles out there, one all time great being Tetris. What a game that really was, and of course, still is. The simple things in life are normally the best, and what’s simpler than the genius behind Tetris – 7 different shapes of four blocks each, falling down one by one, instantly yours to control, rotate them, move them horizontally, all the time trying to build up hole free lines at the bottom of the ‘grid’ in order to collect points. It’s simple, it doesn’t need 128bit graphics or Dolby 5.1 digital surround sound and yet it manages to entertain people of all ages for a good half an hour at a time. Classic, simple, genius, great game – universal appeal, although the kids nowadays might prefer the polygon record breaking platform games, Tetris rules though.
Going retro once again now, with Asteroids taking one of the places in my list – I doubt I’d get the same satisfaction playing it today as I did then, but still, this is an undisputed video game, and one that is responsible for many half decent clones. The idea simple was simple, you’re a space rocket and you have to shoot large asteroids to make them explode into smaller asteroids, shoot them again, they’ll be even smaller until finally there’s none left and you’ve got yourself an admirable score. The game didn’t even have colour, yet you could play it for hours, maybe because there was nothing else quite like it, maybe because there was nothing else to do, but either way, the game was brilliant. Especially the way the rocket was controlled – hold the arrows down for longer and it’d increase in speed, a simple touch of left right up or down would merely step it slightly in that direction. Of course you had to be careful not to collide into the giant rocks, which were simply a white outline, with a shape that just about resembled the asteroid; otherwise you’d pick up damage and possibly lose a life. Oh the memories…
Leaping forward to another PlayStation 2 game, and yet another ‘3’ game, it’s Grand Theft Auto 3 – a game so utterly stylish, it’s easy to understand why it’s the best selling PS2 game so far. Violence is acceptable in virtual form I suppose, because this game is one very violent title, but fair enough – gangsters, guns, mobs and missions galore, if you want to experience something close to working for the Mafia, then buy this game! You’re an escapee, and you need some money, so your mate helps you find some work, and from there on things get dirty, and you get rich. Pull off the missions well and you’ll be rewarded, be it as a hit man, a chauffeur or a sniper, stay alive and reap the profits. The graphics are fantastic, in contrast to the previous two GTA games, this one’s in full 3D, although if you so wish, you can change to that famous 2D aerial view. Some amazing lighting effects can be found here, a host of weapons, including your own fists – steal cars as you please, run over pedestrians if you want, but don’t forget about the fuzz…A superb game with loads of missions, lots of extras and a unique attitude found only in this game (great fun to play too)!
Sonic, Sega’s celebrity mascot and now he’s on Game Cube, Game Boy Advance as well as Sega’s old consoles, but the game that stands out for me is the original Sonic the Hedgehog on the Master System, a 2D gaming masterpiece, something that took on Nintendo’s Mario and held it’s own against it. Ok, so there’s one major gripe with the first incarnation of Sonic, something that plagued all Master System and NES games, you can’t save your game and pick up from where you left off. However, this resulted in multi-hour gaming sessions, often with a few mates, taking it in turn for the levels as you progressed to more visually interesting, and ultimately harder stages. Sonic has a certain charm, A and B did exactly the same (jump (or spin when holding down)) and then the ‘D-pad’ was of course for direction. It’s only a one player game, yet it’s still a superb game for more than one. Sonic Team never tried to make it look better than the master system could take, and thus it offers simple 2D but very vibrant and glitch free visuals – simple but catchy music, famous sound effects, and a great enemy for Sonic to defeat. A class act all round.
If you’ve got Sonic, you have to include Mario really. A plump little Italian plumber, an ideal candidate for a video game hero – and of course the trusty mascot of Nintendo, Mario and his brother Luigi have always starred on Nintendo’s consoles, my favourite of them all has to be Super Mario Bros. 3 on the NES, more colourful than the previous 2, and there was a better storyline, possibly. Mario could do much the same as Sonic, without quite as much speed, but he could jump on his opponents, and collect coins, where Sonic collected rings. At the end of each relatively short level you’d be able to get a card, the famous “You got a card!” message appearing each time, with the aim of collecting 3 of the same in order to trade them for extra lives to help you keep going, oh the simple things were the best. Not at all fast paced, but a really fun game to play, you soon forgot how uncomfortable those teeny control pads were. Better than Sonic? Well, could Sonic really take on King Koopa and win?
That’s ten. All brilliant games in their own right, and all I have really enjoyed playing. Hope it wasn’t too great a chore for you to read through, if you made it then, thanks for reading – that’s all from me.
VOODOO MAN
Page:
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
With so many games being released, it's inevitable that a fair few will make a significant impact on the gaming world, albeit amongst 75% of complete trash...
Over the past few years we've seen some superb console releases, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2 and of course the most recent, the Microsoft X Box, soon we'll have the Nintendo Game Cube, and within 3 years there'll probably be something else too. I say this because these new age, next generation consoles would be useless if they didn't house the best games - games that you would put in your top ten list even without thinking. PlayStation? MegaDrive? Nintendo Entertainment System? All 'dead' or 'dying' formats, but still, these consoles were home to some incredible titles, so even when the platform becomes forgotten, the games will still be close to mind (probably because of a tenth sequel on a latest console...)
So, my top ten, that's what this, is all about. Well, a great game has to make you want to play it again, and again. Unless of course the game manages to keep you transfixed for the entire duration until you complete it, 10 hour night gaming sessions do in fact happen... I don't think I'd be able to put them in order, but here goes. My top ten, in no particular order: -
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (PS2 version). The very first Tony Hawk's game was released on the original PlayStation and ever since, you could always be safe in the knowledge that Activision and Neversoft would make their classic skateboard 'em up on a Sony console - the controller is perfectly designed to withstand the player's many combo moves and frantic button bashing and rotating - THPS3 has fantastic visuals, a refreshing frame rate (ahem) and some very well designed levels, especially the final cruise ship area - ideal for huge grinding combo's! If the game needed a saving grace it would be the addictiveness level - literally lose hours upon hours in front of your television playing through the tasks in each level, or competing in a two player battle, but Tony Hawk's 3 doesn't need one, it's superb in every area - a great soundtrack, superb controls, excellent graphics and speed, top longevity and of course, being the most addictive game of all time.
Next, Virtua Fighter 2 – on the Sega Saturn and in the arcade, many years ago – originally unveiled to the world in 1994, it had a troubled time selling itself, only because of the not so popular Sega Saturn, if VF2 had of been on the PlayStation, well, things would be different. Still, that doesn’t detract from the game’s genius. Vastly superior visuals to the first Virtua Fighter, Yu Suzuki’s 2nd instant classic had awesome graphics, great moves and enough characters to make it last. It had brilliant sound, some really authentic fighting arenas and that certain Sega charm that made it all gel together. Looking back on it now, it does look dated, but then 8 year old children don’t still fit in prams. If you missed out on this epic, then all I can suggest is that you get yourself a PlayStation 2, order Virtua Fighter 4 and await its release and try to contain your excitement. The latest VF in the series will finally have the audience it deserves – watch out for it very closely.
Another fighting game now and its ‘Dead or Alive 3’ on the newly released X Box: - you may be thinking “what happened to the last 2 D o A’s?” although you’re probably not, I’ll tell you anyway, the first Tecmo title was released both on the Sega Saturn and PlayStation, and largely went unnoticed, whereas Dead or Alive 2 made a reputable enough impact when released on the Dreamcast a couple of years back. It was praised as being one of the finest looking and most fluid playing beat ‘em up for a very long time, and indeed it was a fantastic game, although I did, like many found it a little simplistic, with the one player mission being insanely easy to complete at the first attempt. However, Dead or Alive 3 is something of beauty, just to look at you know that one of the best looking, if not, the best looking game available is staring you right in the face – it’s very much like the 2nd version, but it plays at about double the speed, with 5 times the amount of possible moves and some very intriguing new characters, arenas and game modes. Definitely the best looking X Box game out right now, grab a mate, or 3, make use of your X Box’s 4 controller ports, and play to your heart’s content. DoA3, in a word – Stunning.
Gran Turismo 3, a racing game of such perfection, it needs no introduction. If you’ve not yet played the PS2’s finest, and ever so probably the best racing game of all time, then you seriously need to find yourself in the vicinity of a PlayStation 2. With the previous two Polyphony Digital GT games, the PlayStation world did stand still and look upon 2 classics in the making, and GT3 is just another modern day wonder. With notably sublime lighting effects, frame rate and of course that oh so realistic engine roar, nothing really comes close to this one. There’re plenty of awesome cars, very well designed tracks that really do test your skills, and a one player GT mode that’ll last you for a very long time indeed. If you can’t afford to tune up a Dodge Viper or TVR Tuscan, then don’t worry, not many of us can, the next best thing? Gran Turismo 3, and what’s more, it’s only £19.99 in the Platinum range.
Remember the Dreamcast? You should do, it was only released in 1999 in Europe, and sadly didn’t get the sales figures it needed or deserved, because there were some fine games available for it, and if there’s one Dreamcast game that stands out above all else is another Yu Suzuki masterpiece, Shenmue. Although Sega may have tried to convince that the game breaks into its very own genre, it’s basically ‘just’ a role playing game, but it’s something quite unique, and quite brilliant in my eyes. Take on the role of Ryo, a young adult, highly skilled in the martial arts and who’s seeking revenge over his father’s death, you become Ryo and have to live out his life and steer him to the right path of tracking down those who murdered his Dad. Despite some mediocre voice acting at times, there is no questioning the scale of this epic video game; the visuals are incredible, the music highly appropriate and the theme - simple but effectively captivating. Storyline is unique, the gameplay is flawless – prepare for a lot of hand to hand first combat – 70 man brawl near the end…Classic.
Who can deny that oldies are great, grandparents – they’re great, play cards with you, talk about the war, and what have you, well, in the computer gaming scene, there are some pretty wrinkly titles out there, one all time great being Tetris. What a game that really was, and of course, still is. The simple things in life are normally the best, and what’s simpler than the genius behind Tetris – 7 different shapes of four blocks each, falling down one by one, instantly yours to control, rotate them, move them horizontally, all the time trying to build up hole free lines at the bottom of the ‘grid’ in order to collect points. It’s simple, it doesn’t need 128bit graphics or Dolby 5.1 digital surround sound and yet it manages to entertain people of all ages for a good half an hour at a time. Classic, simple, genius, great game – universal appeal, although the kids nowadays might prefer the polygon record breaking platform games, Tetris rules though.
Going retro once again now, with Asteroids taking one of the places in my list – I doubt I’d get the same satisfaction playing it today as I did then, but still, this is an undisputed video game, and one that is responsible for many half decent clones. The idea simple was simple, you’re a space rocket and you have to shoot large asteroids to make them explode into smaller asteroids, shoot them again, they’ll be even smaller until finally there’s none left and you’ve got yourself an admirable score. The game didn’t even have colour, yet you could play it for hours, maybe because there was nothing else quite like it, maybe because there was nothing else to do, but either way, the game was brilliant. Especially the way the rocket was controlled – hold the arrows down for longer and it’d increase in speed, a simple touch of left right up or down would merely step it slightly in that direction. Of course you had to be careful not to collide into the giant rocks, which were simply a white outline, with a shape that just about resembled the asteroid; otherwise you’d pick up damage and possibly lose a life. Oh the memories…
Leaping forward to another PlayStation 2 game, and yet another ‘3’ game, it’s Grand Theft Auto 3 – a game so utterly stylish, it’s easy to understand why it’s the best selling PS2 game so far. Violence is acceptable in virtual form I suppose, because this game is one very violent title, but fair enough – gangsters, guns, mobs and missions galore, if you want to experience something close to working for the Mafia, then buy this game! You’re an escapee, and you need some money, so your mate helps you find some work, and from there on things get dirty, and you get rich. Pull off the missions well and you’ll be rewarded, be it as a hit man, a chauffeur or a sniper, stay alive and reap the profits. The graphics are fantastic, in contrast to the previous two GTA games, this one’s in full 3D, although if you so wish, you can change to that famous 2D aerial view. Some amazing lighting effects can be found here, a host of weapons, including your own fists – steal cars as you please, run over pedestrians if you want, but don’t forget about the fuzz…A superb game with loads of missions, lots of extras and a unique attitude found only in this game (great fun to play too)!
Sonic, Sega’s celebrity mascot and now he’s on Game Cube, Game Boy Advance as well as Sega’s old consoles, but the game that stands out for me is the original Sonic the Hedgehog on the Master System, a 2D gaming masterpiece, something that took on Nintendo’s Mario and held it’s own against it. Ok, so there’s one major gripe with the first incarnation of Sonic, something that plagued all Master System and NES games, you can’t save your game and pick up from where you left off. However, this resulted in multi-hour gaming sessions, often with a few mates, taking it in turn for the levels as you progressed to more visually interesting, and ultimately harder stages. Sonic has a certain charm, A and B did exactly the same (jump (or spin when holding down)) and then the ‘D-pad’ was of course for direction. It’s only a one player game, yet it’s still a superb game for more than one. Sonic Team never tried to make it look better than the master system could take, and thus it offers simple 2D but very vibrant and glitch free visuals – simple but catchy music, famous sound effects, and a great enemy for Sonic to defeat. A class act all round.
If you’ve got Sonic, you have to include Mario really. A plump little Italian plumber, an ideal candidate for a video game hero – and of course the trusty mascot of Nintendo, Mario and his brother Luigi have always starred on Nintendo’s consoles, my favourite of them all has to be Super Mario Bros. 3 on the NES, more colourful than the previous 2, and there was a better storyline, possibly. Mario could do much the same as Sonic, without quite as much speed, but he could jump on his opponents, and collect coins, where Sonic collected rings. At the end of each relatively short level you’d be able to get a card, the famous “You got a card!” message appearing each time, with the aim of collecting 3 of the same in order to trade them for extra lives to help you keep going, oh the simple things were the best. Not at all fast paced, but a really fun game to play, you soon forgot how uncomfortable those teeny control pads were. Better than Sonic? Well, could Sonic really take on King Koopa and win?
That’s ten. All brilliant games in their own right, and all I have really enjoyed playing. Hope it wasn’t too great a chore for you to read through, if you made it then, thanks for reading – that’s all from me.
VOODOO MAN
Over the past few years we've seen some superb console releases, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2 and of course the most recent, the Microsoft X Box, soon we'll have the Nintendo Game Cube, and within 3 years there'll probably be something else too. I say this because these new age, next generation consoles would be useless if they didn't house the best games - games that you would put in your top ten list even without thinking. PlayStation? MegaDrive? Nintendo Entertainment System? All 'dead' or 'dying' formats, but still, these consoles were home to some incredible titles, so even when the platform becomes forgotten, the games will still be close to mind (probably because of a tenth sequel on a latest console...)
So, my top ten, that's what this, is all about. Well, a great game has to make you want to play it again, and again. Unless of course the game manages to keep you transfixed for the entire duration until you complete it, 10 hour night gaming sessions do in fact happen... I don't think I'd be able to put them in order, but here goes. My top ten, in no particular order: -
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (PS2 version). The very first Tony Hawk's game was released on the original PlayStation and ever since, you could always be safe in the knowledge that Activision and Neversoft would make their classic skateboard 'em up on a Sony console - the controller is perfectly designed to withstand the player's many combo moves and frantic button bashing and rotating - THPS3 has fantastic visuals, a refreshing frame rate (ahem) and some very well designed levels, especially the final cruise ship area - ideal for huge grinding combo's! If the game needed a saving grace it would be the addictiveness level - literally lose hours upon hours in front of your television playing through the tasks in each level, or competing in a two player battle, but Tony Hawk's 3 doesn't need one, it's superb in every area - a great soundtrack, superb controls, excellent graphics and speed, top longevity and of course, being the most addictive game of all time.
Next, Virtua Fighter 2 – on the Sega Saturn and in the arcade, many years ago – originally unveiled to the world in 1994, it had a troubled time selling itself, only because of the not so popular Sega Saturn, if VF2 had of been on the PlayStation, well, things would be different. Still, that doesn’t detract from the game’s genius. Vastly superior visuals to the first Virtua Fighter, Yu Suzuki’s 2nd instant classic had awesome graphics, great moves and enough characters to make it last. It had brilliant sound, some really authentic fighting arenas and that certain Sega charm that made it all gel together. Looking back on it now, it does look dated, but then 8 year old children don’t still fit in prams. If you missed out on this epic, then all I can suggest is that you get yourself a PlayStation 2, order Virtua Fighter 4 and await its release and try to contain your excitement. The latest VF in the series will finally have the audience it deserves – watch out for it very closely.
Another fighting game now and its ‘Dead or Alive 3’ on the newly released X Box: - you may be thinking “what happened to the last 2 D o A’s?” although you’re probably not, I’ll tell you anyway, the first Tecmo title was released both on the Sega Saturn and PlayStation, and largely went unnoticed, whereas Dead or Alive 2 made a reputable enough impact when released on the Dreamcast a couple of years back. It was praised as being one of the finest looking and most fluid playing beat ‘em up for a very long time, and indeed it was a fantastic game, although I did, like many found it a little simplistic, with the one player mission being insanely easy to complete at the first attempt. However, Dead or Alive 3 is something of beauty, just to look at you know that one of the best looking, if not, the best looking game available is staring you right in the face – it’s very much like the 2nd version, but it plays at about double the speed, with 5 times the amount of possible moves and some very intriguing new characters, arenas and game modes. Definitely the best looking X Box game out right now, grab a mate, or 3, make use of your X Box’s 4 controller ports, and play to your heart’s content. DoA3, in a word – Stunning.
Gran Turismo 3, a racing game of such perfection, it needs no introduction. If you’ve not yet played the PS2’s finest, and ever so probably the best racing game of all time, then you seriously need to find yourself in the vicinity of a PlayStation 2. With the previous two Polyphony Digital GT games, the PlayStation world did stand still and look upon 2 classics in the making, and GT3 is just another modern day wonder. With notably sublime lighting effects, frame rate and of course that oh so realistic engine roar, nothing really comes close to this one. There’re plenty of awesome cars, very well designed tracks that really do test your skills, and a one player GT mode that’ll last you for a very long time indeed. If you can’t afford to tune up a Dodge Viper or TVR Tuscan, then don’t worry, not many of us can, the next best thing? Gran Turismo 3, and what’s more, it’s only £19.99 in the Platinum range.
Remember the Dreamcast? You should do, it was only released in 1999 in Europe, and sadly didn’t get the sales figures it needed or deserved, because there were some fine games available for it, and if there’s one Dreamcast game that stands out above all else is another Yu Suzuki masterpiece, Shenmue. Although Sega may have tried to convince that the game breaks into its very own genre, it’s basically ‘just’ a role playing game, but it’s something quite unique, and quite brilliant in my eyes. Take on the role of Ryo, a young adult, highly skilled in the martial arts and who’s seeking revenge over his father’s death, you become Ryo and have to live out his life and steer him to the right path of tracking down those who murdered his Dad. Despite some mediocre voice acting at times, there is no questioning the scale of this epic video game; the visuals are incredible, the music highly appropriate and the theme - simple but effectively captivating. Storyline is unique, the gameplay is flawless – prepare for a lot of hand to hand first combat – 70 man brawl near the end…Classic.
Who can deny that oldies are great, grandparents – they’re great, play cards with you, talk about the war, and what have you, well, in the computer gaming scene, there are some pretty wrinkly titles out there, one all time great being Tetris. What a game that really was, and of course, still is. The simple things in life are normally the best, and what’s simpler than the genius behind Tetris – 7 different shapes of four blocks each, falling down one by one, instantly yours to control, rotate them, move them horizontally, all the time trying to build up hole free lines at the bottom of the ‘grid’ in order to collect points. It’s simple, it doesn’t need 128bit graphics or Dolby 5.1 digital surround sound and yet it manages to entertain people of all ages for a good half an hour at a time. Classic, simple, genius, great game – universal appeal, although the kids nowadays might prefer the polygon record breaking platform games, Tetris rules though.
Going retro once again now, with Asteroids taking one of the places in my list – I doubt I’d get the same satisfaction playing it today as I did then, but still, this is an undisputed video game, and one that is responsible for many half decent clones. The idea simple was simple, you’re a space rocket and you have to shoot large asteroids to make them explode into smaller asteroids, shoot them again, they’ll be even smaller until finally there’s none left and you’ve got yourself an admirable score. The game didn’t even have colour, yet you could play it for hours, maybe because there was nothing else quite like it, maybe because there was nothing else to do, but either way, the game was brilliant. Especially the way the rocket was controlled – hold the arrows down for longer and it’d increase in speed, a simple touch of left right up or down would merely step it slightly in that direction. Of course you had to be careful not to collide into the giant rocks, which were simply a white outline, with a shape that just about resembled the asteroid; otherwise you’d pick up damage and possibly lose a life. Oh the memories…
Leaping forward to another PlayStation 2 game, and yet another ‘3’ game, it’s Grand Theft Auto 3 – a game so utterly stylish, it’s easy to understand why it’s the best selling PS2 game so far. Violence is acceptable in virtual form I suppose, because this game is one very violent title, but fair enough – gangsters, guns, mobs and missions galore, if you want to experience something close to working for the Mafia, then buy this game! You’re an escapee, and you need some money, so your mate helps you find some work, and from there on things get dirty, and you get rich. Pull off the missions well and you’ll be rewarded, be it as a hit man, a chauffeur or a sniper, stay alive and reap the profits. The graphics are fantastic, in contrast to the previous two GTA games, this one’s in full 3D, although if you so wish, you can change to that famous 2D aerial view. Some amazing lighting effects can be found here, a host of weapons, including your own fists – steal cars as you please, run over pedestrians if you want, but don’t forget about the fuzz…A superb game with loads of missions, lots of extras and a unique attitude found only in this game (great fun to play too)!
Sonic, Sega’s celebrity mascot and now he’s on Game Cube, Game Boy Advance as well as Sega’s old consoles, but the game that stands out for me is the original Sonic the Hedgehog on the Master System, a 2D gaming masterpiece, something that took on Nintendo’s Mario and held it’s own against it. Ok, so there’s one major gripe with the first incarnation of Sonic, something that plagued all Master System and NES games, you can’t save your game and pick up from where you left off. However, this resulted in multi-hour gaming sessions, often with a few mates, taking it in turn for the levels as you progressed to more visually interesting, and ultimately harder stages. Sonic has a certain charm, A and B did exactly the same (jump (or spin when holding down)) and then the ‘D-pad’ was of course for direction. It’s only a one player game, yet it’s still a superb game for more than one. Sonic Team never tried to make it look better than the master system could take, and thus it offers simple 2D but very vibrant and glitch free visuals – simple but catchy music, famous sound effects, and a great enemy for Sonic to defeat. A class act all round.
If you’ve got Sonic, you have to include Mario really. A plump little Italian plumber, an ideal candidate for a video game hero – and of course the trusty mascot of Nintendo, Mario and his brother Luigi have always starred on Nintendo’s consoles, my favourite of them all has to be Super Mario Bros. 3 on the NES, more colourful than the previous 2, and there was a better storyline, possibly. Mario could do much the same as Sonic, without quite as much speed, but he could jump on his opponents, and collect coins, where Sonic collected rings. At the end of each relatively short level you’d be able to get a card, the famous “You got a card!” message appearing each time, with the aim of collecting 3 of the same in order to trade them for extra lives to help you keep going, oh the simple things were the best. Not at all fast paced, but a really fun game to play, you soon forgot how uncomfortable those teeny control pads were. Better than Sonic? Well, could Sonic really take on King Koopa and win?
That’s ten. All brilliant games in their own right, and all I have really enjoyed playing. Hope it wasn’t too great a chore for you to read through, if you made it then, thanks for reading – that’s all from me.
VOODOO MAN
Page: